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Military strategy, operations, and technology

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Description

Total length of the course: 4+ hours

War is the continuation of politics by other means, and technological advantage is its central obsession. This course explores the role of technology in military strategy and operations across three case studies: the firepower revolution in land warfare, the century-long duel between bombers and air defenses from radar to stealth, and the underwater competition between submarines and the technologies built to detect and destroy them. Across all three, the same logic holds — every advantage generates a countermeasure, every countermeasure reshapes strategy at every level, and the enemy always gets a vote.

Content details

War, strategy, and technology through time
Introduction
War
War and peace
Coercion and dissuasion
What makes war unique
Measures and counter-measures: fortification
Measures and counter-measures: naval realm
The levels of strategy
Technical Level
Tactical level
Operational level
Theatre (strategic) level
Grand-strategic level
American grand strategy and power
Adversarial response
Grand strategy informs strategy, operations, tactics, and technology
Firepower revolution
Introduction
Second industrial revolution: conquest
Second industrial revolution: rifles and machine guns
The modern system
Era of advanced sensors
Advanced sensors and precision ammunition
Measures and counter-measures
Air defence revolution
Introduction
The early period from WWI
Early detection of aircraft – and how to take them down
Regaining capacity of enemy airspaces
Air power during the nuclear age
Vietnam and development of air defenses
Vietnam and development of air defenses: counterreaction
The rise of stealth technology
Counter-stealth technology
Submarine revolution
Introduction
Early age
WWII reactions to submarines
WWII advances in submarines
Passive acoustics and new advances in submarines
Soviet counter reactions